Needle operating means in knitting machines

ABSTRACT

Controlling means is provided for a knitting machine needle comprising a needle holder having a shank part in a recess in which there is positioned a rockable element provided with an operating butt displaced from its fulcrum, said element engaging the shank part for two-way transmission of movements to it and so arranged that its rocking movements bring its operating butt into and out of active position.

United States Patent Gostelow 1 July 25, 1972 [54] NEEDLE OPERATING MEANS IN 2,025,462 12/1935 Lombardi ..66/50 R KNITTING MACHINES 2,025,463 12/1935 Lombardi ...66/50 A 2,740,277 4/1956 Lombard1 66/50 R [72] Inventor: Daniel William Fredrick Gostelo utOn, 3,151,474 10/1964 W1ddowson et al ..66/14 England 3,262,285 7/1966 Beguin et al. ..66/5O R 3,324,684 6 1967 P [73] Assignee: The Bentley Machine Development Comaeplce pany Limited, Leicester, England FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22 Filed: Feb. 17, 1970 1,546,919 10/1968 France ..66/50 R [2!] Appl' 12,032 Primary Examiner-W. Carter Reynolds Attorney-Robert E. Burns and Emmanuel J. Lobato t D [30] Foreign Application Prion y ata ABSTRACT Feb. 25, 1969 Great Bntam ..l0,028/69 Controlling means is provided for a knitting machine needle comprising a needle holder having a shank part in a recess in [52] U8. Cl. ..66/14, 66/50 R which there is positioned a mckable element provided with an [51] Int. Cl ..D04b 9/10, D04b 15/68 operating butt displaced from its fulcrum, said element g g [58] Field of Search ..66/14, 25, 50 R, 50 A, 50 B, ing the Shank pan for twchway transmission f movements to 66/75, 36 it and so arranged that its rocking movements bring its operating butt into and out of active position. [56] References Cited 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures UNITED I6 S ATE V 3,499,300 3/1970 Zahradka ..66/5 0 R X Patented July 25, 1972 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented July 25, 1972 3,678,710

' 3 Sheets-Sheet s NEEDLE OPERATING MEANS IN KNITTING MACHINES This invention is for improvements in needle operating means in knitting machines and is concerned with the provision of a novel means slidable in a needle bed for controlling a knitting machine needle. One object of the invention is to provide means whereby movements both ways in a trick may be imparted to a needle controlling means.

In accordance with the invention there is provided for a knitting machine needle controlling means comprising a shank or stem part and an associated movable element provided with an operating butt characterized by having said element engaging said shank or stem part for two way transmission of movements to it and also rockable relatively to said shank or stem part to bring the said operating butt into and out of active position. The rocking element of the needle controlling means is arranged to be accommodated with the needle controlling means in the same trick in a needle bed so that the said operating butt when active will project from such trick and when inactive will be retracted into the trick. This may be conveniently arranged by accommodating the rocking element in arecess in the said shank or stem part and so that the said operating butt when active will project from the said recess and when inactive will be retracted into the recess. The rocking element may have a plurality of operating butts different ones of which are projected outwardly from the shank in two opposite positions to which the element can be rocked. The two way engagement of the controlling means with the rocking element may be secured by having the latter housed in a double ended recess in the said shank or stem part the ends of such recess being caused to engage endwise with the ends of the rocking element. Alternatively a pivotal anchorage between the ends of the rocking element may provide the two way engagement.

In a convenient arrangement the needle controlling means is in the form of a needle holder which may be the shank which carries the needle integrally with it or a slider to which one end of a double ended needle can be anchored by engagement of a clutch part of the slider with the near end of the needle in known manner. With this construction movements can be imparted both ways to the needle by engagement of a projecting butt on a rocking jack (forming the said element) with appropriate cam means.

The improved needle controlling means offers advantages over known needle controlling means such as rocking jacks or instruments to co-operate with needle stems or sliders. Such rocking jacks or instruments have a butt or butts which can be projected from or fully depressed into a trick of a needle bed in which the slider or instrument is mounted, depending on the position to which the jack or instrument has been rocked and when projected from the trick is arranged to be engaged by an operating cam. Instruments (e.g.selectors) or jacks of the known type just referred to constitute a means for pushing or shunting the needle in one direction only, movement of the needle in the opposite direction being obtained by means of a butt on the needle slider or on the shank of a single ended needle. The improved arrangement in accordance with the invention enables controlling movements in both directions to be obtained from the same butt on the rocking element or jack which is associated with the shank or stem part of the needle controlling means.

The rocking element or jack in the arrangement according to the invention may if desired have a number of butts at different levels to co-operate with controlling means, there being advantageously at least one butt above and at least one butt below the fulcrum of the element or jack. In other words the rocking element or jack may have at one or both of the parts of the jack above and below its fulcrum, butts at a plurality of levels to co-operate with different cam levers or cam tracks.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides in or for a knitting machine. means comprising a slider or shank for controlling a needle, said slider or shank being fitted with and having two way engagement with an element which may be rocked to cause a butt thereon to be disposed in either an active or an inactive position, depending on whether the butt is projected from or drawn into the needle trick.

Some convenient embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings and will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a composite instrument comprising a needle slider and part of an attached needle, drawn to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the parts shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 but showing a modified construction;

FIG. 4 is a front view of parts shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 but showing a further modification; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of parts shown in FIG. 5.

A slider-like element 1 is shown in FIG. I with a book of a double-ended needle 2 the upper part of which is broken away) attached to the clutch portion la, in the normal manner, at that edge of the element 1 which is innermost when inserted in a trick of a needle bed. Unlike the usual slider associated with double-ended needles the element 1 is itself not provided with an operating butt or butts. Instead it has a shank or stem part of a width W which is in excess of normal width. This shank or stem part has a double ended recess or cut away portion 3 which houses a second element 4 similar to a rocking jack of a type as normally used for patterning purposes. The element 4 is provided with butts 5 and 6 which may, if desired, be undercut or angled on their operating edges as shown.

The jack 4 at its midpoint has a width approximately equal to the depth of the recess 3 in the slider l and tapers toward both ends, at each of which the width of the jack plus the height of the respective butt 5, 6 is approximately equal to the depth of the recess 3. The proportions of the element 4 are such that, by rocking the element about its fulcrum point indicated at 7, the butt 5 may be caused to retract into the recess 3 (as shown in FIG. 1) and the butt 6 caused to be exposed beyond the width W of the element 1. Conversely by depressing the butt 6 into the recess 3, butt 5 may be exposed beyond the width W. It will be seen that the butt 5 at the lower end of the jack 4 has an upper edge 5a which is engageable by a suitable cam to move the slider 1 downwardly and also a lower edge 5b which is engageable by a suitable cam to move the slider upwardly. Likewise the butt 6 at the upper end of the jack 4 has an upper edge 6a which is engageable by a suitable cam to move the slider I downwardly and a lower edge 6b which is engageable by a suitable cam to move the slider upwardly. The butts 5 and 6 also have outer edges 50 and 60 respectively which are selectively engageable by suitable cams for rocking the jack about its central pivot between a position in which butt 5 projects and a position in which butt 6 projects from the recess. The element 4 is of course slightly shorter in length than the length of the recess 3 and the ends of the element 4 are rounded to allow the rocking action to take place with the minimum of resistance. Since the jack 4 is confined in an endwise direction by the ends of the recess 3, the slider 1 is effectively coupled with the jack 4 for movement with it in both endwise directions. The composite instrument formed by the elements 1 and 4 is carried in a slot or trick 8 in the needle bed e.g. a needle cylinder 9 so as to be slidahle in such trick in the same manner as an orthodox slider, but in the example shown the tricks 8 of the needle bed require to be slightly deeper than usual to accommodate the width W of the element 1.

In the modified construction shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the rocking element 4 is shown as accommodated in a recess 3 in the shank or stem 10 of a needle 11 which is formed integrally therewith. Thus the same rocking element arrangement as in FIG. 2 is applied to a different type of needle actuating means the operation of the element 4 being the same as in the construction of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the modified arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6 a rocking element 12 of modified form is applied to a modified slider 13 which corresponds to the element 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2. The rocking element 12 is contained in a recess 14 in the slider 13, the recess being open ended at the lower end 13a of the slider and having a slanted upper end 14a. Instead of the rocking element 12 having its ends in engagement with end walls of the recess 14 it is fulcrumed by means of a part-circular projection 15 on the slider 13 extending into the recess 14. The rocking element 12 has a re-entrant part-circular recess 16 which fits on to the projection 15 enabling the slider to rock opposite ways in the recess 14. The rocking instrument 12 has upper and lower butts 17 and 18 corresponding to the butts 6 and of FIGS. 1 and 2. From either of these butts both up and down movements can be imparted to the slider 13 through the fulcrum 15,16 between the rocking element 12 and the slider 13. The construction of FIGS. 5 and 6 affords advantage that interengagement between the projection 15 and the re-entrant recess 16 resists any tendency for the element 12 to be projected outwardly during rotation of a needle cylinder in a trick of which the slider 13 operates. The parts can be assembled out of the trick and when inserted in the trick the side walls thereof prevent disengagement between the element 12 and the slider 13.

While the rocking elements 4 and 12 are shown in the present examples as each having two butts, one above and the other below the fulcrum point 7 or 15, there is no limitation in this respect. it may be sufficient for some purposes to have only one butt on the rocking part 4 or 12 and, if desired, provide another butt on the shank or slider part or 13. Other combinations may be devised to suit different types and/or arrangements of cam systems for operating the composite instrument. In a case in which only a single butt is provided on a rocking element 4 or 12, rocking of the element to project its butt from the needle trick could be effected when required by causing a movable camming lever to move into a slot in the needle bed formed at right angles to the trick therein. Thereby the camming lever would be caused to press inwardly against a part of the rocking element displaced beyond the fulcrum point from the butt on said element.

What we claim is:

1. In a knitting machine the combination comprising a tricked needle bed, a needle holder slidable in a trick in said bed and including a shank occupying the depth of said trick, said shank being formed within its width with an outwardly facing recess, a rocking jack contained in said recess and coupled to said shank for movement both ways therewith along said trick, a fulcrum for rocking movement of said jack positioned centrally of the length of the jack, said jack at its central part occupying the full depth of said recess and being tapered in width towards each end, and double edged butts on said jack projecting outwardly one from each of the opposite ends of the jack, each of said butts being retracted fully into said recess when the jack is rocked to project the other butt therefrom, the recess in the said shank being double ended and the ends of the jack being rounded to engage slidably with the ends of the recess.

2. A needle holder for mounting in a trick of a needle bed in a knitting machine, comprising a needle holding end part and an elongated shank for accomodation in such trick, said shank being formed within its width with an outwardly facing recess, a rocking jack contained in said recess and coupled to said shank for movement both ways therewith along said trick, a fulcrum for rocking movement of said jack positioned centrally of the length of the jack, said jack at its central part occupying the full depth of said recess and being tapered in width towards each end, and double edged butts on said jack projecting outwardly one from each of the opposite ends of the jack, each of said butts being retracted fully into said recess when the jack is rocked to project the other butt therefrom, the recess in the said shank being double ended and the ends of the jack being rounded to engage slidably with the ends of the recess. 

1. In a knitting machine the combination comprising a tricked needle bed, a needle holder slidable in a tricK in said bed and including a shank occupying the depth of said trick, said shank being formed within its width with an outwardly facing recess, a rocking jack contained in said recess and coupled to said shank for movement both ways therewith along said trick, a fulcrum for rocking movement of said jack positioned centrally of the length of the jack, said jack at its central part occupying the full depth of said recess and being tapered in width towards each end, and double edged butts on said jack projecting outwardly one from each of the opposite ends of the jack, each of said butts being retracted fully into said recess when the jack is rocked to project the other butt therefrom, the recess in the said shank being double ended and the ends of the jack being rounded to engage slidably with the ends of the recess.
 2. A needle holder for mounting in a trick of a needle bed in a knitting machine, comprising a needle holding end part and an elongated shank for accomodation in such trick, said shank being formed within its width with an outwardly facing recess, a rocking jack contained in said recess and coupled to said shank for movement both ways therewith along said trick, a fulcrum for rocking movement of said jack positioned centrally of the length of the jack, said jack at its central part occupying the full depth of said recess and being tapered in width towards each end, and double edged butts on said jack projecting outwardly one from each of the opposite ends of the jack, each of said butts being retracted fully into said recess when the jack is rocked to project the other butt therefrom, the recess in the said shank being double ended and the ends of the jack being rounded to engage slidably with the ends of the recess. 